Dispenser for c-folded paper towels with hot air dryer

ABSTRACT

A hand drying appliance has a cabinet containing an air heating unit and a dispensing unit for individual paper towels. The cabinet has an air outlet communicating with the air heating unit so that heated air can pass to the outside of the cabinet. A magazine or holder is arranged inside the cabinet to contain a substantially vertical stack of C-folded paper towels. The cabinet also has a towel outlet through which the lowermost towel in the stack can be dispensed laterally of the stack. A dispensing member is arranged inside the cabinet beneath the magazine or holder. It engages the lowermost towel in the stack and moves it laterally through the towel outlet slot.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,785,523 Goldstein Jan. 15, 1974 DISPENSER FOR C-FOLDED PAPER TOWELS WITH HOT AIR DRYER Primary ExaminerRobert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-David A. Scherbel [76] lnvemor' g gt gz sgqgsg Mllton Attorney-Williain R. Liberman 22 Filed: Oct. 30, 1972 [57] ABSTRACT A hand dr-ying appliance has a cabinet containing an air heating unit and a dispensing unit for individual [52] US. Cl. 221/42, 221/96 paper towels. The cabinet has an air outlet communi- [51] Int. Cl. B65h 3/26 eating with the air heating unit so that heated air can [58] Field of Search 221/150 H, 36, 38-42, pass to the outside of the cabinet. A magazine or 221/96, 312; 312/37, 38 'holder is arranged inside the cabinet to contain a substantially vertical stack of C-folded paper towels. The [56] References Cited cabinet also has a towel outlet through which the low- UNITED STA S PATENTS ermost towel in the stack can be dispensed laterally of 1,163,737 12/1915 Calvert 221/38 the A dispensing meimber is arranged inside the 3,214 058 10/1965 Sergio u 22l/36 X cabinet beneath the magazme or holder. lt engages the 33052938 2/1967 goldsteinm 3|2/38 X lowermost towel in the stack and moves it laterally 3,158,248 11/1964 Hawks 221/276 x r g h wel tlet slot.

489,683 1/1893 Monfort 221/42 X g ,1. 3,251,506 5/1966 Brown et al. 221/36 3 6 Drawmg PATENIED JAN 1 5 4 and! 2 UP 2 DISPENSER FOR C-FOIJDED PAPER TOWELS 'WITH HOT AIR DRYER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Devices for dispensing paper towels are well known, but suffer from the disadvantage that it is possible to withdraw from them more .paper towels than is necessary adequately to dry the hands and this can therefore sometimes be wasteful of paper towels.

Hand drying appliances are also known and are de scribed in the U. S. Pat. No. 3305938 and others.

An object.of the present invention is to provide a combined hand-drying appliance and towel dispensing device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a towel dispensing device,

FIG. 2 is an elevation of part of the same apparatus with a front cover removed, and

FIGS. 3, 4 and are views illustrating details of the apparatus,

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the scoop.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, a combined hand-drying appliance and towel dispenser comprises a cabinet 1 containing an electric heater and an air blower unit 2 (FIG. 2) which is operable to cause a stream of warm air to pass out from an outlet 3 of the unit 2 through an opening 4 (FIG. 1 at the front of the cabinet 1. The cabinet also contains a magazine or holder 5 arranged to contain a stack T of paper towels, commonly known as C-fold paper towels. The stack T of towels is supported on-the bottomof the magazine or towel holder 5, on one side thereof, asat 5a, and an outlet slot 6 is provided in the front of the cabinet 1 through which the lowermost towelin the stack can be dispensed laterally of the stack, as shown'inFIG. 5. The fact that the stack T is supportedfrom below on one side permits the forward leg of the C" on the other side to hang down, as at 5b. This slot6 is of a size such that a finger of a person using the device (even a child) could not be inserted in the slot; A cover plate 21 extends over the slot 6to prevent entry ofafmger into the slot. Only a portion of this slot is illustratedin'FIG. 1 for clarity of illustration. This cover plate2l is hingedly connected to the cabinet andis normally heldin its closed position by a spring 22.

A dispensing member is arranged beneath the magazine or towel holder. This dispe'nsingzmember is preferably in the form of an arcuate scoop 7 ofstainless steel as illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 5. The scoop 7is mounted on a pivot 8 at one end so as to present a convex surface to the lowermost towel in the stack. The scoop can swing about its pivot so that the free end of the scoop can move to and from the dispensing slot 6. As the scoop moves forwards toward the slot 6, its, convex surface leading edge enters the front fold ofthe C-shaped bottom towel in the stack (as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5) and pushes the towel laterally of the stack and through the slot 6, past thecover plate 21 which pivots under the forward movement of scoop'7. The slot is so arranged that when the scoop 7 has completed its forward movement part of the towelis still retained within the slot, but the remainder of the towel is hanging from the slot outside the cabinet so that it can be'pulled away by a person using the dryer. During the forward movement the leading edge of'the scoop 7 as noted (covered by the towel) opens the cover plate 21 against the action of the spring 22. As the scoop retracts, the return pivoting movement of cover plate 21 will releasably retain the outwardly extending portion of the towel.

In order to ensure that the scoop will always engage the drooping leg of the lowermost towel, it is provided with a supplementary discharge plate 23 located atop scoop 7 and with its leading edge extending beyond the leading edge of the main portion of scoop 7.

The scoop is caused to move about its pivot by a geared shaded pole electric motor 9 which rotates an eccentric disc 10 or a crank connected with the scoop 7 through suitable connecting linksl1, 12. The motor is set in operation by an electrical impulse produced by a push botton 13 acting through a micro-switch 14.

As shown in FIG. 3, the link 11 comprises a piston rod 24 connected with the link 12 and carrying a piston 25 movable in a cylinder 26 against the loading of the coil spring 27. With this arrangement, rotation of the disc 10 will act through the links 11, 12 to cause movement of the scoop 7 to and from the slot 6. However, if the scoop encounters any obstruction in its forward movement, if, for example, something is inserted through the slot, the cylinder 26 of the link 11 can continue to move against the action of the spring 27. This provides an additional safety feature.

The cabinet 1 includes a compartment for used paper towels which can be placed in the compartment through an opening 15.

What is claimed is:

l. A hand drying appliance comprising a cabinet, an air heating unit mounted within the cabinet, an air outlet from the cabinet communicating with the unit so that heated air can pass to the outside of the cabinet, a magazine arranged inside the cabinet and arranged to support from below a substantially vertical stack of C- folded paper towels, each towel having a body portion, a rear fold and a forward fold, a towel outlet from the cabinet through which the lowermost towel in the stack can be dispensed laterally of the stack, and a dispensing member bearing against the lowermost towel and movable within the cabinet beneath the magazine and arranged to engage the lowermost towel in the stock between the body portion and the forward'fold thereof and to move it laterally through the towel outlet in juxwith its convex surface presented to the bottom of the stack of towels, and a secondary discharge portion atop the arcuate portion and having a leading edge extending forwardly of the leading edge of the arcuate portion.

3. A hand drying appliance as claimed in claim 1 wherein the dispensing member is mounted to swing about a pivot to and from the towel outlet and comprising a rotatable drive member, a-first link member connected to the drive member so that it will be moved lengthwise of itself by rotation of the drive member, a second link member connected with the dispensing member and movable lengthwise of itself to swing the dispensing member about its pivot, the said second link member being also connected to the first link member, able with respect to each other when the dispensing and a spring between the first and second link members member encounters an obstruction during movement whereby the two link members are normally movable towards the towel outlet.

together on rotation of the drive member, but are mov- 

1. A hand drying appliance comprising a cabinet, an air heating unit mounted within the cabinet, an air outlet from the cabinet communicating with the unit so that heated air can pass to the outside of the cabinet, a magazine arranged inside the cabinet and arranged to support from below a substantially vertical stack of C-folded paper towels, each towel having a body portion, a rear fold and a forward fold, a towel outlet from the cabinet through which the lowermost towel in the stack can be dispensed laterally of the stack, and a dispensing member bearing against the lowermost towel and movable within the cabinet beneath the magazine and arranged to engage the lowermost towel in the stock between the body portion and the forward fold thereof and to move it laterally through the towel outlet in juxtaposition to the outlet for heated air.
 2. A hand drying appliance as claimed in claim 1 in which the dispensing member has an arcuate portion with its convex surface presented to the bottom of the stack of towels, and a secondary discharge portion atop the arcuate portion and having a leading edge extending forwardly of the leading edge of the arcuate portion.
 3. A hand drying appliance as claimed in claim 1 wherein the dispensing member is mounted to swing about a pivot to and from the towel outlet and comprising a rotatable drive member, a first link member connected to the drive member so that it will be moved lengthwise of itself by rotation of the drive member, a second link member connected with the dispensing member and movable lengthwise of itself to swing the dispensing member about its pivot, the said second link member being also connected to the first link member, and a spring between the first and second link members whereby the two link members are normally movable together on rotation of the drive member, but are movable with respect to each other when the dispensing member encounters an obstruction during movement towards the towel outlet. 